THE NATION: Out of the Woods Again

"Please tell me, Caius, why are all these
laws necessary to civilization? Why don't people weave cloth and bake
bread of their own accord in return for payment?"

[Caius answered:] "It is the duty of the government to provide the
necessities of life at a price the poor can afford; once you start
doing that you have to fix the price of a good many other things as
well, and compel people to work at the unpopular trades that lose
money."

The Little Emperors

It was 105 years since the Emperor Diocletian's price control edict (301
A.D.), and rigid economic regulation and manpower...